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Monday, February 29, 2016

29 Feb - Blogs I'm Following

President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Honor to Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Edward C. Byers Jr. during a White House ceremony, Feb. 29, 2016. Byers received the medal for actions while serving as part of a team that rescued an American civilian held hostage in Afghanistan in 2012. DoD photo by EJ Hersom

Deep beneath the heart of Los Angeles’ financial district, hundreds of feet below the huge downtown edifices that house banks, corporate offices, and government agencies, lies another city remembered only in obscure Indian legends, an underground world built by a purportedly strange race of lizard people that vanished five thousand years ago. At least that’s what mining engineer W. Warren Shufelt claimed in the January 29, 1934 edition of the Los Angeles Times. According to reporter Jean Bosquet, Shufelt was ready to dig up downtown L.A. in search of this ancient subterranean civil...more »

A portrait of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead on Friday night, is seen during a march to commemorate him in central Moscow March 1, 2015. The words under the portrait reads “These bullets are meant for each of us.” REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov *Ilya Yashin, Moscow Times*: *Nemtsov Investigation Paves Way For More Assassinations in Russia* Boris Nemtsov never believed he would be murdered. Of course, he understood he might be harassed in one way or another. He knew the authorities might have plans to send him to prison. He felt this even more keenly after they called him ...more »

Wall Street already owns one political party outright and since 1993 has made powerful inroads into the Democratic Party through the corrupt conservatives at the DLC, the New Dems and Blue Dogs. Now, with the possiible nomination of Hillary Clinton, the banksters are inches away from owning both parties outright. Many of her incredibly low-info Democratic supporters would be aghast if they had any idea what they were doing by backing this horribly compromised candidate. And there are Clinton-conservatives vying against progressives everywhere in the country. It's heartening to see...more »

The war against the Qaddafi regime that destroyed Libya’s social fabric was enthusiastically endorsed by Secretary of State Clinton. By Harry Targ | The Rag Blog | March 1, 2016 “I think President Obama made the right decision at the … finish reading Harry Targ : Hillary Clinton and the declining American empire

After a lot of discussion and examination we've come down to our final candidates for a superhero game system - and also we're narrowing in on elements of the campaign and the setting. Our two final candidates are *Supers! *and some form of *Fate*. I've talked about *Supers! *before. In its favor is a very straightforward game engine. When you want to do something you determine what stat it is you want to use and you roll a bunch of six sided dice, based upon that stat. That stat could be some skill, a superpower, your ability to resist something, etc. It encourages some creative n...more »

Image: Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Department of Defense. *Dave Majumdar, National Journal:* *America's Lethal New B-21 vs. the B-2 Stealth Bomber* With the U.S. Air Force revealing concept art and a designation for its shadowy Northrop Grumman B-21 Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) last week, there are many details that we can now glean about the new warplane. First and foremost, the new B-21 looks very similar to its B-2 Spirit predecessor. In fact, the new aircraft look startlingly similar to the original Advanced Strategic Penetration Aircraft (ASPA) and the later Advanced Technolog...more »

[image: This Feb. 17, 2016 file photo shows an iPhone in Washington. A schism has emerged among family members of victims and survivors of the San Bernardino, California terrorist attack, with at least a couple supporting Apple Inc. in its battle against a federal court order to help the FBI hack into a shooter’s locked iPhone.] NEW YORK (AP) -- A federal judge ruled Monday that the U.S. Justice Department cannot use a 227-year-old law to force Apple to provide the FBI with access to locked iPhone data, dealing a blow to the government in its...more »

[image: Josh Fox speaking during an interview at the Environmental Media Association's EMA Awards held at the Warner Bros. Studios Lot in Burbank, CA. on Saturday, October 16, 2010.] Anti-fracking activist Josh Fox endorsed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president Sunday. Fox, who directed the two Gasland films, is one of the most prominent public opponents of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and horizontal drilling. Fox endorsed Sanders because "simply put, Bernie Sanders wants to ban fracking...more »

[image: Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader of Iran.] The Iranian elections are being hailed as a victory for moderates, and therefore President Barack Obama's nuclear deal, but according to experts, the so-called moderate victory is not what it seems. Iranians took to the polls Friday in what could be one...more »

As we gear up for resumption of operations, it has been brought to our attention that a website has cited Lord James’ historic speech of February 16, 2012 as source material for an article that is filled with inaccuracies. Before we get to that, it should be pointed out that this is the second time his speech has been cited in a disinformation piece, the first being penned by Gordon Duff of Veterans Today. Duff has part of it right but it wasn’t Wanta’s money. It was created out of thin air using Yohannes Riyadi’s gold reserves held in an Indonesian bank as “collateral” to under...more »

*Kevin Baron, Defense One*:* The Battle for Mosul Has Begun* ISIS is under air, ground, and cyber attack as Iraqi and coalition troops encircle the group’s final stronghold in Iraq, the Joint Chiefs chairman says. WASHINGTON — The battle for Mosul ultimately will be the biggest U.S. operation in Iraq since the end of the last war. That was Monday’s message from Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, who said multinational forces have begun to cut off the city’s supply and communications lines, and to encircle and isolate Islamic State fighter...more »

A retired officer specialising in Israeli counter intelligence has claimed that nuclear devices were used on 9/11 – and were a modified version of the W-54 artillery shells that were provided to the Israeli’s between 1988 and 1998 from US stockpiles. According to the Russian insider – chemical analysis done on the fallout at ground zero has identified the chemical/radiation footprint of the warheads used in the attacks as being of US/Israeli origin. Usapoliticstoday.com reports: All plutonium based warheads have a chemical fingerprint that can identify the type of design and where ...more »

An American woman is suing Big Pharma for $2 million after her cat turned autistic as a result of getting a vaccine for the Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV). The vaccination is known to cause temporary side effects such as fever and swelling, and in some instances has caused seizures, but the woman from Cincinnati says she believes her cat has suffered permanent damage as a result of the vaccine. 38-year-old Jane Feathers told reporters, “It took me several weeks to identify the symptoms. There is hardly any literature on autism in animals so I had to figure this out by myself. It is w...more »

The Kremlin have accused Donald Trump and his “army” of “Freemasonic forces” of masterminding the assassination of Pope Francis’ personal secretary Miriam Wuolou. The killing was ordered due to the Pope’s denouncement of Trump’s Christian values last month. The heavily pregnant secretary was the receptionist at the Domus Sanctae Marthae (a small hotel within the Vatican City) where Pope Francis has his main residence. She was also the Pope’s personal secretary. Wuolou was found dead under suspicious circumstances, after her body was reported as being in an “advanced state of decomp...more »

An evolutionary biologist has said that he believes extraterrestrial entities are real, living on earth, and look almost identical to humans. Simon Conway Morris is among a handful of scientists, researchers, and experts who believe that aliens have lived amongst humans undetected in underground bases in the Earth. Collective-evolution.com reports: The picture to your left was released by a professor by the name of Bruno Sammaciccia. A Catholic historian with degrees in psychology and psychiatry, he was the author of more than 100 books and a well-known, distinguished figure in Ita...more »

[image: Poverty, Poor] 50.4 million Americans live in economically distressed zip codes, according to a recent analysis by the Economic Innovation Group. The D.C.-based group's Distressed Communities Index (DCI), which used data from 25,000 zip codes and 312 million Americans, shows large portions of...more »

[image: Capitol Hill, Congress, Washington D.C.] Uncle Sam's financial statements are so bad the Government Accountability Office (GAO) flunked him for the 19th year in a row. The Department of Defense, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Department of Agriculture have books in such bad...more »

Newly discovered evidence has been uncovered in the National Archives that suggest Deputy White House attorney Vincent Foster may have been murdered while working for the Clinton family. 23 years ago Foster was found dead in Virginia park after being discovered with a fatal gunshot wound in his head in Fort Marcy park in 1993. Both investigations into his death concluded that Foster had committed suicide. Now, new evidence suggests that Foster had an additional gunshot wound to his neck. WND.com reports: The smoking-gun information comes from two documents: a two-page letter of res...more »

U.S. Congress is attempting to pass the “Deny Americans the Right to Know” (DARK) Act which would make it illegal for food manufacturers to list GMO ingredients on their labels. GMO giant Monsanto are behind this push for secrecy in a last ditch effort to keep the public in the dark about the dangerous GMO ingredients being put into the food they’re eating. ` Naturalnews.com reports: Remember: These industry operators are the same “corporate science” cretins who also lobbied for the tobacco industry and who now promote chemical pesticides and herbicides. They’ve mastered the sinist...more »

Researcher James Perloff explores the world’s political history in this video, looking at the unfolding satanic agenda being pursued by the elite for a One World Government . In the video, Perloff answers the following questions: Who benefited from the mysterious sinking of the USS Maine? Why did President Woodrow Wilson order the manifest of the torpedoed Lusitania hidden in the archives of the U.S. Treasury? After the official inquiry into the Pearl Harbor attack, why did Admiral Kimmel and General Short – the commanders at Pearl Harbor – want to be court-martialed? Why was the S...more »

*CNN*: *Army's Delta Force begins to target ISIS in Iraq* Washington (CNN)The U.S. Army's elite Delta Force operations to target, capture or kill top ISIS operatives have begun in Iraq, after several weeks of covert preparation, an administration official with direct knowledge of the force's activities told CNN. The official said the group has spent the last several weeks preparing, including setting up safe houses, establishing informant networks and coordinating operations with Iraqi and Peshmerga units. It's the same strategy that Special Operations forces have used in previous...more »

A couple days ago we looked briefly at Herr Trumpf's threat to chuck the constitutional prohibition on churches and religions openly endorsing candidates. Will we see a big TV spectacular on Inauguration Day featuring a bonfire with slimy little Eric Trumpf burning copies of the Constitution while Ivanka, dressed as Tzeitel, does a scintillating dance to the Kushner family anthem? Not likely, but God only knows what U.S. military officers will be thinking if that unlikely day ever comes to pass-- the Trumpf inauguration, not the Ivanka dance. Watch the Bill Maher interview Friday...more »

A British MEP stunned the European Parliament into silence as he explained the reality behind the global banking system. In 2013 MEP Godfrey Bloom told politicians in Europe that the banking system was a big scam, created in order to keep the majority of the population in servitude to the hidden elite who control it. Anonhq.com reports: You don’t need us to tell you that this guy deserves a round of applause for his honesty. Such is rare in politics. In addition, the importance of what he shared cannot be overstated. Whether you’re aware of it or not, money is an arbitrary inventio...more »

Bright mysterious lights have lit up the sky over Scotland. People have reported seeing a bright flash of blue, white or green light, followed by a loud rumbling sound. The Herald reports: Police in Aberdeen and Inverness say they have been receiving a large number of calls about flash over northern Scotland. There is speculation it could have been a meteor burning up in the atmosphere or may have been a sonic boom. Some reports suggested it may have been seen as far south as Edinburgh. Highland councillor Ken Gowans said that he had witnessed the flash. “I was standing in my upstair...more »

*“He is an authoritarian whose only consistent aim is his own aggrandizement, and whose only consistent theme is that there should be no barrier between his will and the policies of the U.S. government. “"’But the establishment is rotten.’ Yes, it's rotten, but you can't fix it by electing an unprincipled bully who does not understand and value the principles of the Declaration and Constitution. …"’But he says what he believes.’ Maybe. But so have many would-be dictators throughout history. The question is: what does he believe? …"’Don't judge him by his campaig...more »

[image: LYNCHBURG, VA - JANUARY 18: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers the convocation at the Vines Center on the campus of Liberty University January 18, 2016 in Lynchburg, Virginia. A billionaire real estate mogul and reality television personality, Trump addressed students and guests at the non-profit, private Christian university that was founded in 1971 by evangelical Southern Baptist televangelist Jerry Falwell.] Like many people, I have been puzzled by the degree of support Donald Trump enjoys in the United States. I am in particular confused by how some o...more »

*The Guardian*: *Iraqi PM and US issue warnings over threat of Mosul dam collapse* US embassy advises any citizens in Tigris flood plain to leave, and Baghdad government urges Mosul residents to move away from river The Iraqi government and the US embassy in Baghdad have both issued urgent warnings about the possibility of the Mosul dam collapsing and sending a 20-metre-high flash flood coursing down the river Tigris, putting more than a million people at risk. The embassy on Monday issued a call for people to evacuate the Tigris flood plain, saying “proper preparation could sav...more »

“Like a pearl, a white dwarf star shines best after being freed from its shell. In this analogy, however, the Sun would be a mollusk and its discarded hull would shine prettiest of all! In the above shell of gas and dust, the planetary nebula designated NGC 2440, contains one of the hottest white dwarf stars known. The glowing stellar pearl can be seen as the bright dot near the image center. The portion of NGC 2440 shown spans about one light year. *Click image for larger size.* The center of our Sun will eventually become a white dwarf, but not for another five billion years. The ...more »

*“Roofs”* by Chet Raymo "It would be well, perhaps, if we were to spend more of our days and nights without any obstruction between us and the celestial bodies, if the poet did not speak so much from under a roof, or the saint dwell there so long." Good advice, Mr. Thoreau. I came here to this island for its unobstructed sky. Built a house called Starlight House. I'm no poet or saint, but I settled in to nurse what slender gifts I have. The sky has not disappointed. Except occasionally. We have just come off a rare four-day string of cloudy days, and the celestial bodies have been...more »

"Most do not fully see this truth that life is difficult. Instead they moan more or less incessantly, noisily or subtly, about the enormity of their problems, their burdens, and their difficulties as if life were generally easy, as if life should be easy. They voice their belief, noisily or subtly, that their difficulties represent a unique kind of affliction that should not be and that has somehow been especially visited upon them, or else upon their families, their tribe, their class, their nation, their race or even their species, and not upon others. Problems do not go away. Th...more »

Syrian Republican Guards have seized territory in the Turkmen mountains overlooking Yayladagi in Turkey’s Hatay Province, an area that was once part of Syria but was annexed by Turkey in 1939. Fars News reports: The Syrian Arab Army’s 103rd Brigade (commandos) of the Republican Guard and their allies are creeping towards the final rebel-held points along the Turkish-Lattakia border after another successful weekend that resulted in the government forces seizing the strategic village of Saraf and its surrounding heights in Jabal Al-Turkmen (Turkmen Mountains). Following the capture of...more »

*Emmanuel Karagiannis, Newsweek*: *Why The War in Syria is Only the Beginning* The Fog of War that Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz famously mentioned in his breakthrough book On War (1832) is visible in the Middle East. In 2011, when the Arab Spring reached Syria, most western policymakers and analysts underestimated the resilience of President Assad’s regime, mistakenly predicting a quick defeat of his forces. Their assumption was that Assad would suffer the same fate as the former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and become yet another hated dictator overthrown by ...more »

[image: same-sex marriage - 900] There are few ideas today that seize the minds of liberals more than equality. It is the central tenet of progressive liberalism. It drives practically everything liberals do and believe in, from income equality to marriage equality. We usually think...more »

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad and the Iraqi government have both issued warnings of a possible risk of collapse of the Mosul dam near an Islamic State/ISIS stronghold in northern Iraq. The Iraqi authorities have issued contingency plans to save the lives of almost 1.5 million people along the Tigris river that are on the path of an ‘inland tidal wave’ that could flatten Iraq in a catastrophic flash-flood. Middle East Eye reports: The statement is the first public acknowledgment by the Iraqi government of the danger posed by the dam, which is in a poor state of repair after years of ne...more »

There's nothing of news in section A. The editorial writer comments on the recent fracking report presented by an independent commission. It's obvious the editorial writer didn't and doesn't know what it is the commission was supposed to do, and is angry at it for doing it. There is also a puzzling, editorial suggestion that there is no evidence that fracking damages water safety. In fact, there is a good deal of evidence. (Could we have some evidence that there is no evidence?) Then the editorial comes to exactly where I thought it would take a stand. It is in favour of shale gas ...more »

*More harm done by the Green/Left* Tens of thousands of people are dying every year because repeated warnings about the dangers of diesel cars and wood-burning for heating were ignored by successive governments trying to make Britain ‘greener’, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Ironically, the policies have only made our air dirtier. They are accused of triggering a ‘public health disaster’, with the huge shift to diesel vehicles to try to cut greenhouse gas emissions denounced as a ‘con’. Last week, a devastating official report said the drive for diesel and wood-burning are direct...more »

[image: Stop Abortion, Pro-Life, Anti-Abortion, Planned Parenthood] Alaska took a step toward barring Planned Parenthood from its schools Friday when the state Senate passed a bill that would ban abortion providers from teaching sex education in the classroom. One Democrat joined 10 Republican senators to vote in favor...more »

[image: TIME photojournalist - 900] RADFORD, Va. (AP) -- A raucous and protest-ridden Donald Trump rally on the eve of Super Tuesday featured a verbal and physical altercation between a news media photographer and a Secret Service agent, complete with profanity, a choke hold and...more »

*"Concerns of "Major" West Coast Earthquake Growing as San Andreas,* * Melones and Elsinore Faults Spew More Carbon Monoxide"* by Newsroom "Beginning on February 26, NASA satellites in space began detecting staggeringly large emissions of Carbon Monoxide (CO) gas along the west coast. As evidenced by the satellite image below, the emissions were far too big, too highly concentrated and covered too vast an area to be man-made. On the satellite image below, the areas in black, purple and brownish-orange show the magnitude of the emission; it was utterly massive! *Click image for large...more »

*NPR*:* On Day 3, Syria's Cessation Of Hostilities Still Largely Holding* Syria's cessation of hostilities is largely holding on its third day, even as the main opposition umbrella group accuses the Syrian regime of violations. Riad Hijab, the opposition's general coordinator, wrote a letter to the U.N. Secretary-General detailing the alleged breaches of the truce, which was brokered by the U.S. and Russia. The letter reads, in part: *"Right from the onset of the truce, a large number of violations have been committed by the regime and its allies in several parts of Syria. The re...more »

A nanny dressed in black was arrested by police after allegedly walking the streets of Moscow brandishing the severed head of a child, shouting “I am a terrorist” The horrific scene unfolded near the Oktyabrskoye Pole metro station in the northwest of the capital. The victim was a four year old girl, identified as Nastya M. After the murder, the female suspect went to a metro station, where she was stopped by a local police officer The Daily Express reports: It comes after reports officers had earlier found the headless body of a child aged around three or four at a block of flats in...more »

[image: Donald Trump Godfather - 900] Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday raised the issue of Donald Trump’s association with members of the mob, suggesting one reason the real estate developer isn’t releasing his tax returns is because it would further expose those ties. “There have been...more »

[image: U.S. Army, U.S. Military, Delta Force] Special operators from the Army's Delta Force are about to sweep through Iraq targeting high-level Islamic State militants. Delta Force, part of "Tier One" special operations, has slowly been prepping in the shadows on the ground for weeks. Some of that...more »

The Beatles said it beautifully. “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” There are coming to you choices. Choices of circumstance. Choices of focus. Choices of emotion. Choices of location. These are not multiple choice and standardized as if in a test and able to be assessed. All choices are correct ones. Your options are infinite; all of them held in the field you occupy. Today I ran across some “Love Quest” writing from 2014. Some of this post includes those words and raises the possibility of holding those events again. This journey to agap...more »

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, right, with the commander of Senegalese special-operations forces at training exercises in in Thies, Senegal. PHOTO: YAROSLAV TROFIMOV/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL *Wall Street Journal*: *Libya Will Need American Help to Defeat Islamic State, General Says* Commander of U.S. special-operations forces in Africa says even unity government won’t be enough Islamic State, which has spread across Libya by taking advantage of conflict between the country’s two rival governments, has become too strong to be rolled back without U.S. help, a senior American com...more »

A new national poll of registered Republicans released this morning by CNN showed only one candidate of those still standing losing support since January, when so many other candidates suspended their campaigns and went home-- Cruz: *•* Herr Trumpf 49% (+8) *•* Rubio 16% (+8) *•* Cruz 15% (-4) *•* Dr. Ben 10% (+4) *•* Kasich 6% (+5) And there was worse news for Cruz in the poll. Trumpf's re-branding seems to be working, as only 14% of registered Republicans picked Cruz for "most honest and trustworthy," behind Trumpf at 35% and Dr. Ben at 22%. Stand up comedian Marco Rubio score...more »

[image: Spotlight2 - 900] VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican newspaper praised Oscar-winning film Spotlight on Monday as having given voice to the “profound pain” of the faithful over the reality of clerical sex abuse, and insisted it’s not an anti-Catholic film. L’Osservatore Romano...more »

[image: Home sales - 900] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy homes in January, as the recent hot streak appears to have been curbed by a shortage of properties for sale and colder weather. The National Association of Realtors said that its...more »

Yes, folks, this *is* how big government works. Auckland’s mega-council has a giant mega-turd for a computer system, with a giant mega-bill to match: $1.24 billion dollars worth of computer grunt making possible such delights as registering your dog, booking swimming lessons online, and downloading copies of *Woman’s Day.* Actually, not even this much is true yet: but booking a hall or your swimming lessons online are merely “not far off” say the bureaucrats spending your money. Probably only a few million dollars away. $1.24 billion is not small change. That’s around $2,500 fo...more »

Three former Tepco executives of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant operator were indicted on Monday for allegedly failing to take measures to prevent the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Three top officials were formally charged with professional negligence resulting in death and injury. This will be the first criminal trial over responsibility for the tsunami-sparked reactor meltdowns that forced thousands from their homes in the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. RT reports: The officials are Tsunehisa Katsumata, 75, who was chairman of TEPCO in 2011, an...more »

Well, it is now two full days into the "ceasefire" agreement in the war that was intended to have Syria destroyed and/or broken into small fiefdoms..Surprisingly the agreement does appear to be holding, at least for the moment.... It does appear that the psycho American/Israeli/NATO attempt to have the nation conquered and then broken into small "fiefdoms" as laid out in the criminal and dastardly Israeli "Securing The Realm" documents has at least for the moment been delayed.... But there are so many unanswered questions from this conflict that so many people desperately need the t...more »

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter (L) and Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford arrive at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington February 29, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas *Reuters*:* U.S. waging cyber war on Islamic State, commandos active* The United States is waging cyber attacks against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, and its newly deployed commandos are also carrying out secret missions on the ground, Pentagon leaders said on Monday, in the latest signs of quietly expanding U.S. activity. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the cyber attacks, particularly i...more »

They say politics becomes bitter and personal in inverse proportion to the seriousness of what's at stake. On this occasion though, the battle for Young Labour's seat on the NEC is a weighty matter. As readers know, the party is precariously balanced. Jeremy's army of supporters make up the bulk of the membership, which helps explain the 72% approval rating the leadership currently commands. And, of course, there is the small matter of his occupation of the leader's office. Meanwhile his opponents on the right and centre command a majority in the parliamentary party, the party adm...more »

[image: Carter and Dunford - 900] WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. cyberattacks to disrupt the Islamic State’s communications and overload their networks could force the militant group to use older technologies that are easier for the U.S. to intercept, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday. Carter and...more »

[image: Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C.] Christians who rarely speak about politics are breaking their silence for what they see as a necessary and important reason: to stand against Donald Trump, the current GOP frontrunner. Today The Christian Post published an editorial encouraging evangelicals to "back...more »

*“The American comic **Toby Muresianu* * put it best: last night’s Oscars felt like ‘three hours of being told to eat your vegetables.’ If there has ever been a more grating gathering of smug, self-important asses keen to educate the TV-watching blob about Serious Stuff, then I’m struggling to remember it. … “Black people must have been counting their blessings. Sure,being shunned by the 2016 Oscars might have seemed a bit iffy at first, but what a stroke of luck it turned out to be to be left out of a political freakshow in which Lady Gaga sang a ditty about campus ...more »

*Percentage of S&P junk bonds and leveraged loans considered "distressed" (click to enlarge)* *by Gaius Publius * We know that there will be another economic "big one" like the crisis of 2008. All of the pieces are in place — Wall Street greed and literal pathology, the even greater size of too-big-to-fail institutions, a literal get-out-of-jail free card that almost blesses continued financial fraud, and the like. We just don't know when it will occur, or what will trigger it. Last time it was triggered by the collapse of the bubble-sized home mortgage market. The time before tha...more »

[image: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets supporters at her election night watch party after winning the South Carolina Democratic primary in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016.] They may get the media coverage but few seem to be listening. Leading black intellectuals are rejecting Hillary Clinton and embracing Bernie Sanders, but at least in South Carolina, their opinion didn’t seem to matter at all. Clinton won an...more »

[image: Spotlight - 900] This year’s Academy award winner for best picture serves as a painful reminder of one of the darkest periods in Catholic Church history, where more than 200 priests and religious figures were accused of abusing minors and were reassigned and reshuffled...more »

[image: The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense.] Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland has received another extension from the Army, giving him until May 1 before the service makes a decision on whether or not to drum him out for standing up to an Afghan rapist. Members of...more »

As the state of emergency continues in France, police in the capital are to be armed with assault rifles and Kalashnikov-resistant shields for the first time. The interior minister said on Monday that police officers in Paris will be given the equipment which is usually reserved for elite intervention forces, four months after the terror attack which killed 130 people. The new equipment, which also includes Taser guns and other items, is worth 17 million euros ($18 million) Press TV reports: “Some of the criminals you are confronted with no longer hesitate to use heavy weapons again...more »

*Buck Rogers* - A genuine master of chi demonstrates a super-power that any of us could have. The post Japanese Master Demonstrates the Power of Chi by Controlling Animals appeared first on Waking Times.

*Jeff Halper, co-founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, sees the brutal practice of destroying Palestinian homes and similar tactics as part of an experiment in social repression that can have broader implications as income inequality spreads across the globe, as he told Dennis J. Bernstein. (Reprinted in part from Consortium News) * *Dennis Bernstein: *Let’s talk about how you say Israel uses the occupied territories as a training ground, a weapons and control of people training ground, which is then exported. It’s sort of Israel’s front line, forward trad...more »

*Time*: *Syria’s Cease-Fire Holds in Face of Reported Violations* "The truce has positively surprised many people by lasting for a few days—let’s put it this way—so far" A fragile cease-fire remained intact for a third day in parts of Syria on Monday, even as monitoring groups reported renewed Russian airstrikes on areas held by opponents of the regime of Bashar Assad. The reports of shelling on Saturday and Sunday were the clearest sign to date of the erosion of the truce agreement announced a week ago by the United States and Russia. Syrian opposition groups had been deeply ske...more »

Surgery Today has pulled a pair of papers that share many authors because the studies they describe were not approved by an institutional ethics committee. One describes a case in which the researchers removed a mass from a 64-year-old woman’s small intestine; the other describes how the authors removed a growth from a patient’s pancreas. They conclude that the […] The post Surgery studies lacked ethics committee approval appeared first on Retraction Watch.

*CawRANT Events #19* It's a grey but mild day on the West Coast. The daffodils are beginning to bloom and Spring is in the air...as we post on this *Leap Year Day*. Happy Leap Year, everyone. I hope some females will get up the gumption and ask their male partners to marry them. It's the one day every four years that this is acceptable : ) Time for a *RANT!* *Bank of Canada rips up own charter and 'spreads em' for international Bankster Cabal* First on the Agenda is the sad news that the Canadian Supreme Court is indeed bought by the cabal. The evidence of this is the recent deci...more »

[image: David Duke and Donald Trump - 900] Donald Trump insisted Monday that, contrary to the appearance he gave in a CNN interview Sunday, he does, in fact, disavow the endorsement of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke. In fact, he blames the ruckus on a...more »

Syria has warned Saudi Arabia against attempts to undermine peace efforts as the fragile ceasefire in the war-torn region enters its third day. The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that remarks by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir about a ‘plan B’ in Syria are clearly aimed at derailing the truce. Press TV reports: “What Adel al-Jubeir says … about a plan B regarding the current developments in Syria is merely a delusion in the mind of the Saudi regime,” a Syrian Foreign Ministry official said in the statement, adding, “Jubeir’s statements are … an attempt to...more »

*Washington Post*: *A SEAL Team 6 member steps out of the shadows to receive the Medal of Honor* In the darkness of a single-room building in Afghanistan, Navy Senior Chief Edward C. Byers Jr. had little time to react: A fellow Navy SEAL had just been shot in the head during a hostage rescue mission, and it wasn’t clear who else in the room wanted to kill the American team. Byers burst in anyway, shooting a Taliban fighter who had an automatic rifle aimed at him. Another man scrambled to the corner of the room where another rifle was stored, so Byers tackled him and then tried to ...more »

Thomas Mathus is the poster child of crying wolf but what if he was merely 400 years ahead of his time and when it comes to making predictions its surprising even on a 400 year time scale how wrong people remain There is no fucking magic evidence is bloody in our face everywhere Iraq, falija, Agansistain Kandahar the USA and immunisations failure its more than teh Zika virus its a failure to understand we got to live in harmony and if you only want to play bass somehow sooner or later your neighbours will give their lives to put you down Inputs and outputs and energy consumption its al...more »

*CNN:* *Migrants break through Macedonia-Greece border fence as backlog mounts* (CNN)Scores of migrants broke through a barbed-wire security fence on the Greece-Macedonia border Monday, as tensions over new restrictions along the key land route into Europe boiled over in violent scenes. And more than 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) away in Calais, in northwest France, clashes erupted as authorities moved to dismantle structures at the "Jungle," an infamous migrant camp marked for partial demolition. Crowds at a border camp near the Greek village of Idomeni on the Macedonian border...more »

President Obama meeting with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko on Sept. 18, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) *Michale Crowley, Politico: **Obama's Ukraine policy in shambles* *Distracted by ISIL, frustrated by infighting in Kyiv, the administration makes little progress against Putin in Europe.* President Barack Obama’s effort to rescue Ukraine from Russia’s military grip has stalled, and turmoil inside Ukraine's government may hand Russian President Vladimir Putin a victory in a conflict that Obama has said involves "the most basic principles of our international ...more »

Reuters *Daily Beast:* *Slowly, Relentlessly, China’s Military Expands Its Global Reach* *With military bases and deepwater ports from Sri Lanka to Djibouti, and plans to build new aircraft carriers, China is looking to project power far beyond East Asia.* HONG KONG — On the horn of Africa, as you may have read, the tiny nation of Djibouti, home to American, French, German, Italian, and Japanese military bases, is about to welcome the Chinese as well. Last November, China and Djibouti reached an agreement to set up a naval base in the Obock region in the north of the country, whe...more »

[image: Justice Clarence Thomas - 900] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Justice Clarence Thomas has asked questions during a Supreme Court argument for the first time in 10 years. Thomas’ questions came Monday in case in which the court is considering placing new limits on the reach of...more »

[image: Eurozone - 900] LONDON (AP) -- Inflation across the 19-country eurozone turned negative in February, official figures showed Monday, in a development that will boost expectations that the European Central Bank will unveil another stimulus package at its next policy meeting on March...more »

*“The Deep State Is Coming for Your Savings…”* by Bill Bonner BALTIMORE – Is there really a “War on Cash”? No. There’s a war on you. We’ll come back to that in a minute… First, a quick roundup of last week’s action. *Rig Plunge: *Friday brought more bad news for U.S. shale oil producers. (More on this below in today’s Market Insight.) Reports Bloomberg: "The number of rigs drilling for oil and gas in the U.S. is plunging toward the lowest level in more than 75 years of records… culminating in the collapse of almost 75 percent of the rig count. The fracking boom towns are now turni...more »

*"Trump Derailed by Obama’s Endorsement"* by Andy Borowitz WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)— "Adding a new wrinkle in an already unpredictable election year, Donald Trump saw his poll numbers plummet on Monday after receiving a surprise endorsement from President Barack Obama. The long-awaited downfall of the abrasive billionaire came in startling fashion, as few had expected the President to offer a full-throated endorsement of Trump, especially on the eve of the all-important Super Tuesday primaries. Praising the Republican front-runner during a nationally televised address, the...more »

An explosive new book reveals that Tony Blair kept members of his cabinet and numerous high-profile Whitehall officials in the dark over his plans to create “regime change” in Iraq. In his book “Broken Vows” investigative journalist Tom Bower, alleges that Blair had decided as early as 2002 that Saddam Hussein should be removed. Based on exclusive interviews with military chiefs, civil servants and Cabinet ministers, Bower also exposes how Blair failed to state his intentions to his Chief of Defence Staff, Cabinet Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary as well as most of th...more »

Historic solidarity rally organized by the Smedley Butler Brigade of Veterans For Peace, Boston-area, February 27 at The Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. See the *Boston Globe* article on this event *here* Video by Regis Tremblay.

[image: US Supreme Court - 900] For 30 years Antonin Scalia sat on the Supreme Court. He was a legal giant, unimpressed with the pretensions of power and resistant to liberal orthodoxies. He was unafraid to skewer what typically passes for legal "reasoning," even -- or...more »

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Dz433LDQY By The Fixx As I wake today, same as yesterday I get in my car, poor turn my wheels So much to say, who's got time to listen Fulfill our dreams, shame is left unseen Why should someone lose so that I get by? Why should someone pay just to send me high? No one has to cry while I can smile No one owns the sky, so blue above you But somewhere in this world is a field where we all play Secrets in your eyes, no one has to cry There's no self-control as we play our roles It's all dog eat dog, we're all dressed for show As we plot and scheme full ...more »

--> by Jim Horn Before my book on teaching in KIPP Model schools went on sale yesterday, Jay Mathews and the “No Excuses” charter empire were already at work. In fact, Jay had already delivered to his *Washington Post* editors a two-part response/review to my book. Part 1 appeared yesterday. Jay’s dubious assessment of *Work Hard, Be Hard*… may reassure KIPP’s corporate patrons, venture philanthropists, and the hedge funders that all is well in "No Excuses Land," but his remarks do nothing to shed light on the intent and content of my book, which was conceived and executed with ...more »

[image: With the aid of an interpreter, the commander of the Afghan National Army's 1st Toli, 7th Kandak, 4th Brigade, 203rd Corps (left) discusses information gathering with a Soldier from U.S. Army Europe's 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, during a combined patrol in Logar province, Afghanistan, Sept. 9, 2012.] The U.S. draw downs in Afghanistan and Iraq have resulted in most of those who fought abroad returning home, however, there are thousands left behind who risked their lives helping the coalition in both countries. Iraqi and Afghan interpreters ...more »

[image: President Khameni - 900] TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iranian moderates have won a majority in parliament and a top clerical body charged with selecting the next supreme leader, dealing a major blow to hard-liners in the first elections held since last summer’s landmark nuclear...more »

This is the view from my brother and sister-in-law's new home in Oregon. Last year B+SIL retired, pull up stakes, sold their home in New Jersey, and moved to the other side of the country. One of their adult children and partner - and now their first grandchild! - lives 15 minutes away in Ashland, Oregon. Their other two adult children and their partners live in the Bay Area, a five-hour drive or short flight away. And then - this is the real knock-out - my 84-year-old mother is moving out there, too! With the help of B+SIL, she sold her apartment in New Jersey, gave her car awa...more »

*where to start?* Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, and the anti-Trumpers are out in full force this morning. I find it a bit laughable that a vast number of politicians, most of whom are corrupt and getting rich at the expense of the American public, are touting morals, ethics, and character as reasons to oppose Trump. Meantime, we have Rubio's ears being made a talking point, and Trump's fingers a hot topic. Have we all gone insane? Never mind - scratch that last question. The KKK is also a hot topic. Why? Even Wiki says there is only about 5K members. I think that figure is very ...more »

By Paul Homewood http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3453525/Leonardo-DiCaprio-wins-Oscar-Best-Actor-Revenant.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 I wonder if he had a chance to mention it to all of the luvvies who arrived by private jet? There are companies that actually offer specific packages to the Oscars and other film awards. For instance, Private Fly: https://www.privatefly.com/inspirational-jet-flights/film-awards-by-private-jet.html The price from New York is […]

After finding several errors in their paper about the molecular activity underlying gastric cancer, the authors unanimously decided to retract it. According to the retraction note, three figures in the paper had β‑actin bands that were omitted, interchanged, or both. The retraction note provides the details: After the publication of the article, the authors noted that they had made errors […] The post Upon discovering several errors, authors retract gastric cancer paper appeared first on Retraction Watch.

[image: Syrian flag - 900] BEIRUT (AP) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a shaky cease-fire in Syria is holding “by and large” despite sporadic fighting that continued across Syria and growing accusations of violations that threatened to derail the truce, now in its third...more »

*Reuters:* *Syria rebels say attacks by army and Russian planes threaten truce* The Syrian opposition warned on Sunday that attacks by the army, backed by Russian warplanes, threatened a U.S.-Russian deal for a cessation of hostilities with collapse and endangered future peace talks. The agreement, which is in its second day and has drastically curbed violence but not stopped it entirely, is the first of its kind to be attempted in four years. In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the opposition said violations would undermine international efforts to guarantee the ...more »

I think BBC Four is definitely the best TV channel around, but having steered clear of the bulk of BBC1’s dramas, soaps and other flim-flam, I surprised myself by accidentally enjoying Happy Valley. It was so realistically acted that one could almost suspend disbelief at the plot(s) with multiple misery and mayhem, blood and guts and alcoholism. I understand that I’m not the only one who couldn’t grasp every single syllable. It’s that ubiquitous breathy, sigh-speak that’s so incomprehensible, specially when delivered at breakneck speed in an accent to which one’s ears are not attun...more »

Yesterday, on top of the *NY Times* front page story eviscerating Hillary's spectacularly failed neocon foreign policy agenda in Libya, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard went on *Meet the Press* and publicly resigned as a vice Chair of the DNC so that she could work for Bernie. (Another congresswoman, who has not endorsed either presidential candidate yet, told me Tulsi-- who isn't nearly as progressive as Bernie (she's graded an "F" by ProgressivePunch)-- made the move because "she’s just fed up with the Hillary-Debbie Wasserman Schultz Axis of Evil at the DNC." Wow! She certain...more »

After the recent attempt by the FBI to force Apple to take an iPhone and open it up for inspection (looking for San Bernardino terrorist associates), the Tech giant has hired Frederic Jacobs, the developer behind Edward Snowden’s favorite chat app “Signal” The security engineer responsible for Signal’s tough encryption will join Apple this summer, and will likely come up with a foolproof encryption software that will deter further temptation by those thinking of breaking into an Apple and compromising its integrity. Tech Crunch reports: Frederic Jacobs, a Switzerland-based develope...more »

Finally and only because a citizens' panel pushed very hard for this outcome: Fukushima disaster: Ex-Tepco executives charged with negligence, BBC, February 29, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35684098 Three former executives at a Japanese power giant have been formally charged with negligence over the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant. The trio, formerly of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), will be the first to go to court over the incident. A citizen's panel ruled last year they should face trial, forcing prosecutors to pursue the case.

*Sputnik:* *Has Russia's T-90 Tank Really Made TOW Missiles Obsolete in Syria?* New Russian tanks sent to Syria have been able to survive hits from US-made TOW missiles, although their anti-missile counter-measures have yet to be seen in combat. In a report on the new weapons deployed to the Syrian conflict, Robert Fisk drew attention to tank-based anti-missile systems, as well as night vision and reconnaissance systems. The new tanks supplied to the Syrian army have the ability to deflect TOW-like missiles, although their full implementation has yet to be seen. A video released...more »

[image: Social media] U.S. social media companies are taking steps to curb support for terrorist causes on their websites. According to news reports, both Facebook and Twitter have rooted out thousands of accounts that either advocate or display sympathy for terrorists -- and as...more »

Despite bombings and financial sanctions the Islamic State is still coming up with ways to bring in cash. The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times just documented IS’s deals with Iraqi money exchangers and Syrian oil traders to keep money flowing into the caliphate. It’s yet to be seen whether that’s enough to sustain itself, but it shows that it will still take a lot more to cut off the group’s sources of funding. Erika Solomon from the Financial Times reported on how the Islamic State is offering bulk oil deals in an attempt to avoid coalition air strikes. IS is issuing 1,00...more »

. And in the Zapatista Communities? Zapatista Army for National Liberation Mexico February 2016 Traduzione italianoEnglish translationDeutsch Übersetzungελληνικές μεταφράσεις Espanol: http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/ To the compañer@s of the Sixth: To whom it may concern: Compañeroas, compañeros and compañeras: Now we are going to tell you a little bit about the Zapatista

A Russian TV channel has obtained footage which shows an increased Turkish military presence on the Syrian border. The REN-TV crew reported that the lodgments are heavily fortified by tanks and self-propelled guns which are pointed in the direction of the mainly Kurdish city of Kobane This follows a series of cross-border shelling attacks by Turkish forces against Kurdish positions in Syria. RT reports: Shells and other ammunition are being delivered to the Turkish positions, which are shelling Kurdish forces in Syrian territory, according to the report. “The barrels of the tanks and...more »

Two journals have published six expressions of concern for a pair of biologists at Rowan University, and are asking the university to undertake an investigation. We contacted the editors of the two journals — Journal of Cell Science and Biology Open — who both said they decided to flag the papers after a reader raised […] The post Journals flag 6 papers, request investigation of New Jersey university biologists appeared first on Retraction Watch.

[image: Special Forces Training-900] A ?U.S. Army Special Forces soldier conducts reconnaissance during a live-fire exercise in Twentynine Palms, Calif., on Feb. 17, 2016. Thank you to this brave warrior for his service to our nation!

[image: Prayer] Super Tuesday is just around the corner, and a slate of big winner-take-all states two weeks after that. The outcome of the two presidential nomination races may well have been determined by the Ides of March. But election returns are only the...more »

hat tip to Silver Palomino! silver palominoFebruary 29, 2016 at 2:23 AM Hey Penny - Very interesting quote in this story by Patrick Cockburn:..... So, with a well respected Western MSM reporter saying PYD =PKK its getting harder for the world to deny unless they just ignore him We're going to get to this statement and a bit more shortly. Mr Cockburn's information makes no difference to myself or my readers. It won't change a thing, I've written and written about the connections between the PYD & PKK. In posts too numerous to recall. However, his acknowledgement of these realiti...more »

https://en.wikipedia.org/ The ghost of Stephen Harper haunts Ottawa. Michael Harris writes: Harper invented the “future appointments” system as a way of governing for years beyond his mandate, tying the new government’s hands on the leadership of agencies like the National Energy Board. He and ministers like Lisa Raitt did it by “filling the pipeline” with Tory candidates for posts long before their existing appointments ran out. Canadians also found out that Harper had transferred huge swaths of federally-owned pasture lands ...more »

By Brenda Norrell Censored News The McCarthyism that destroyed careers and lives of filmmakers, writers and journalists, is the same as what is happening today, just in a different form. The truth-tellers are being silenced. Whether it is done with an economic torch, forcing journalists into unemployment and poverty, or whether it is done by billionaires or the casino industry purchasing

After the 4th Asia Liberty Forum (ALF) ended in Kuala Lumpur on February 20, SEANET organized a small group discussion on "business friendly regulations", same hotel venue. I was one of those invited. Below, Wan Saiful Wan Jan, CEO of IDEAS and Director of SEANET, spoke to explain once again what the meeting-seminar was all about. Aside from independent think tank leaders from some ASEAN countries, some friends outside the region were also there, like Barun Mitra, Cris Lingle, Julian Morris, Lorenzo Montanari. I gave a brief presentation. Brief as in 8 minutes or less. *TPP’s li...more »

[image: Housewife Eclectic: Shamrock Pretzel Pops] St. Patrick's Day is one of those random holidays that I just absolutely love. I love that there are no expectations of it, so I can do nothing or go all out and nobody is upset either way. I personally LOVE going all out for St. Patrick's Day because it is the anniversary of my husband and I's first date and it is such a fun day to remember. One of the things I try to do for every holiday is chocolate covered pretzels of some kind. They are my favorite treat, my mom used to make them for me at Christmas when I was a kid and it made ...more »

All the early reports out of Iran showed supporters of reformist Hassan Rouhani winning every district on Friday-- there are 30-- in Tehran, the capital and biggest city. Western media immediately jumped to the conclusion that the conservatives (the Pinciplists) had been vanquished. Even Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, who is the Principlists leader in Parliament (Majlis) and whose daughter is married to a son of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, lost his seat. Currently the party holds 165 seats (56.8%) to the Reformists, who are led by Stanford-educated Mohammad Reza Aref, 52 ...more »

[image: Hansjörg Wyss upon receiving the honorary doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne on October 4, 2014.] Hansjorg Wyss, a billionaire Swiss citizen and multi-million dollar Clinton Foundation donor, gave 30 contributions to American political campaigns over a nine-year period, according to an investigation by The Daily Caller News Foundation. Federal law has imposed a strict, across-the-board ban since...more »

[image: In this photo taken October 9, 2015, Gen. Michael Hayden (USAF Ret.), former CIA director, speaks during a panel discussion on intelligence reform.] Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said that if Donald Trump takes over as president, the military may flat-out refuse to follow orders from him. Those orders are based on certain campaign pledges Trump has made during his campaign tours, Hayden...more »

[image: The undated photo provided by the Archive of the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau shows SS Oberscharfuehrer Hubert Zafke. Zafke, now 95, is scheduled to go on trial Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 in Neubrandenburg, north of Berlin, on 3,681 counts of accessory to murder on accusations he served as a medic at an SS hospital in Auschwitz in 1944. (The Archive of the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau via AP)] NEUBRANDENBURG, Germany (AP) -- The trial of a former SS medic on 3,681 counts of accessory to murder for allegedly helping the Nazis’ Auschwitz death camp function appeared close to c...more »

The theme today is how to survive the days ahead: *You must all begin to conserve your strength and no longer invest your time and energy on material accumulations. See to yourself, your health, and well being and live in a way that helps others to see the need to focus more on positive activities and outcomes.* *When you see someone in need, do not add to their burdens, but be kind and approach them in a calm and loving demeanor. You need not become too involved with them. It is enough to project a calm and stable energy that will uplift and sustain them if just for a moment....more »

Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) said on Monday that a nuclear reactor at its Takahama power plant shut down automatically after a problem with a generator triggered an alarm. The No. 4 reactor, which was brought back online last Friday, was deactivated after an automatic alarm system prompted control rods to be inserted according to the Japan Times The latest incident follows a radioactive water leak at the same plant just over a week ago, amid a government push to restart reactors five years after the Fukushima disaster. RT reports: There is no problem with the reacto...more »

*Eli Lake, Bloomberg:* *Iran's Elections Are Magic* If you are following the Iranian elections, prepare to be dazzled. According to major news outlets from the BBC to the Associated Press, the reformists beat the hardliners. But wait. Didn't Iran's Guardian Council disqualify most of the reformists back in January? Of course it did, but thanks to the magic of Iranian politics, many of yesterday's hardliners are today's reformist. Take Kazem Jalali. Until this month, Jalali was one of those hardliners whom President Barack Obama had hoped to marginalize with the Iran nuclear deal....more »

The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is pictured at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, August 21, 2015. REUTERS/HEINZ-PETER BADER *Reuters*: *U.S. shale's message for OPEC: above $40, we are coming back* For leading U.S. shale oil producers, $40 is the new $70. Less than a year ago major shale firms were saying they needed oil above $60 a barrel to produce more; now some say they will settle for far less in deciding whether to crank up output after the worst oil price crash in a generation. Their latest comments highlight the industry's remark...more »

*"A Lesson From A Pebble"* by James W. Foley "Drop a pebble in the water and with just a splash it is gone; But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on, Spreading, spreading from the center, flowing on out to the sea. And there is no way of telling where the end is going to be. Drop a pebble in the water and in a minute you forget, But there's little waves a-flowing, and there's ripples circling yet, And those little waves a-flowing to a great big wave have grown; You've disturbed a mighty river just by dropping in a stone. Drop an unkind or careless word and in a minute...more »

[image: A photo provided Feb. 24, 2016 by the US Navy shows Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward C. Byers Jr. Byers will be awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama during a White House ceremony on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. Byers is receiving the medal for his actions during a 2012 rescue operation in Afghanistan. (U.S. Navy via AP)] WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is set to award the nation’s highest military honor to a Navy SEAL who helped rescue an American hostage in December 2012. Edward Byers, a senior chief in the Navy, will be the 11th...more »

[image: Nicole Rocklin, from left, Michael Sugar, Blye Pagon Faust, Steve Golin, and cast and crew of “Spotlight” accept the award for best picture for “Spotlight” at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)] LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hollywood’s diversity crisis has loomed large over awards season and the big question going into the 88th annual Academy Awards was whether it would dominate the ceremony, too. It did, of course, but it wasn’t alone....more »

In a 2007 file photo, a U.S. Special Operations Forces member prepares his gear for an evening mission in western Iraq. Eli J. Medellin/U.S. Navy *Military.com/Stars and Stripes*: *Lacking Basic Gear, Special Operators Stuck Buying Their Own Equipment* WASHINGTON -- Sean Matson, who recently left active duty as a Navy SEAL, said the military measured his head four times -- each time before deployment -- with plans to provide him a more advanced ballistic helmet. But the new helmet never materialized. During a deployment in Africa, Matson and six of his fellow SEALs each shelled out...more »

Smoke rises over Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike, as seen from the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, October 18, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach *Scott Beauchamp, The Atlantic:* *The Moral Cost of the Kill Box* *The repurposed military tactic is both unethical and ineffective in today’s conflicts.* In laymen’s terms, “kill boxes” sound like torture devices. In military jargon, they are almost incomprehensible; as defined in the Department of Defense Dictionary, they are “a three-dimensio...more »

A small number of UK military advisers are secretly operating in Libya along with US special troops. The ‘low key’ operation is apparently to build an army to fight ISIS militants in the conflict-ravaged country. Analysts with close connections to Western governments also revealed that “low level training” of rebels has recently taken place. “Special forces commandos” are reportedly working with their “US counterparts” in the city of Misrata, northwestern Libya, the Telegraph reported on Saturday: Even as diplomats in Washington, London and European capitals push for the formation o...more »

By Paul Homewood http://blog.metoffice.gov.uk/2016/02/29/could-sudden-stratospheric-warming-bring-a-cold-start-to-spring/ The Met Office has an interesting post on sudden stratospheric warming, sometimes referred to as the polar vortex: Our atmospheric scientists are predicting a dramatic change in high altitude winds 50km above the ground and the imminent occurrence of an event known as a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) […]

[image: Donald Trump6 - 900] The Republican presidential race could effectively be decided by the votes of millions of Christians across the South, many of whom would call themselves "evangelical" or "strongly pro-life." Yet polls show that many of them, perhaps a majority, are supporting...more »

[image: American student Otto Warmbier speaks as he is presented to reporters Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea announced late last month that it had arrested the 21-year-old University of Virginia undergraduate student. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)] PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- North Korea presented a detained American student before the media on Monday in Pyongyang, where he tearfully apologized for attempting to steal a political banner -- at the behest, he said, of a member of...more »

The X-51A Waverider prepares to launch its historic fourth and final flight. The cruiser achieved Mach 5.1 traveling 230 nautical miles in just over six minutes, making this test the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight ever. (U.S. Air Force photo/Bobbi Zapka) *Air Force Times*: *Hypersonic missiles could be operational in 2020s, general says* By 2020, the Air Force is likely to have operational prototypes ready for a program of record and testing to develop an operational unit, said Maj. Gen. Thomas Masiello, the commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory. By the 2030s, th...more »

*Campaigners blast 'educational anarchy' as new British syllabus tells teachers to inform pupils about Islamic civilisation and Mayan culture but not important events in British history* History pupils must be taught about Islamic civilisation, Mayan culture or Benin in West Africa - but they need not study British kings and queens, education campaigners have claimed. The teaching of landmark events such as the Battle of Waterloo is now 'non-statutory' under the new national curriculum for history, according to the Campaign for Real Education. While teachers are not obliged to co...more »

President Barack Obama is briefed by Lt. Col. Ed Taylor as he views the DMZ from Observation Post Ouellette at Camp Bonifas, Republic of Korea, March 25, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy) *Asahi Shimbun*: *S. Korean scholars, politicians call for hard-line approach against Pyongyang* SEOUL--South Korean scholars and politicians, particularly military veterans, are joining a mounting call for a pre-emptive air strike against North Korea in a desperate bid to force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and missile development programs. Although the use of force against ...more »

*MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29 [sic], 2016Straight Outta Mandated Judgment:* Yesterday morning, we endured our last day of pre-Oscar journalism. At the Atlantic, Christopher Orr was making his yearly predictions. Here's the way he limned the Best Picture award: ORR (2/28/16): *What will win:* The Revenant *What ought to win:* Spotlight or The Martian *What was nominated but shouldn’t have been:* Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn *What wasn’t nominated but should have been:* Carol, Straight Outta Compton Carol should have been nominated, Orr said. So too for Straight Outta Compton. Should those f...more »

*"Always be on the alert wherever you hear 'Discourse', because that's Them..."* *- Tarpley on the Post-Modernist Deconstructionist Agenda* *"It is always possible to excuse any guilt, because the experience exists simultaneously as fictional discourse and as empirical event and it is never possible to decide which one of the two possibilities is the right one. The indecision makes it possible to excuse the bleakest of crimes."* *- Prof. Paul De Man,* *(The "Boa De-Constructor")* *Yale University English Dept.* *Allegories of Reading* *"The Memory Cheats."* *- John Nathan-Turner* ...more »

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Resigns From DNC Post, Endorses Bernie Sanders_ _ _ _ _ _ _ "You know what they did with guys like that in the old days?They carried them out on a stretcher, folks." And the crowd goes wild. Just remember: Candidates like Trump historically emerge from the hatred on the ground engendered by the entrenched wealthy elite trying to extract the last cent (as well as their

*February 29, 2016* (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - News agencies are reporting on a Wikileaks report detailing the EU's "Operation Sophia," an allegedly covert military operation aimed at stemming the flow of refugees into Europe. The International Business Times in their report, "WikiLeaks leak 'classified report' indicating EU Operation could move into Libyan territory," would report that: *WikiLeaks has released a "classified report" about the first six months of Operation Sophia, the EU military intervention against refugee boats in Libya and Mediterranean. * *The leaked report is...more »

*"Lightly My Darling"* "It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them. I was so preposterously serious in those days, such a humorless little prig. Lightly, lightly – it’s the best advice ever given me. When it comes to dying even. Nothing ponderous, or portentous, or emphatic. No rhetoric, no tremolos, no self conscious persona putting on its celebrated imitation of Christ or Little Nell. And of course, no theology...more »

*Robert Bateman, Daily Beast:* *The Ancient Battle Generals Still Love To Copy* Cannae for Hannibal was the definition of winning the battle but losing the war. However, his brilliant execution of a double envelopment would obsess tacticians for a millennia. I went to the most famous battlefield in Western History, and had a surprise. Not a good one. It is a stomp, well off the path, to get to Cannae. The main train lines in Italy run up and down the coasts. Going inland, particularly in southeast Italy, is somewhat more episodic. My train had two cars. At the fourth stop, “Batt...more »

Only every 1461st day is a leap day – Ethan Siegel wrote a similar text on physics of the leap day as I would – but many interesting events have taken place on February 29th, anyway. In 1920, Czechoslovak lawmakers adopted the first Czechoslovak constitution. In 1940, the Nobel prize in physics for the previous year had to be transferred outside Europe, because of the war. Ernest Lawrence got it from a consul in... yes, Berkeley, California. In 1952, Heisenberg's island of Heligoland was returned to Germany. In 2016, Leo DiCaprio won an Oscar. But I want to spend some time with t...more »

The BBC manage to push a story about a shortage of secondary school places http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35671570 without doing much more than blame the Conservative government. There is no mention of 'Immigration' at all. There is a blend mention of a 'population bulge' but that's it. It's almost as though the BBC were trying to hide the negative impact of immigration.

[image: DSC01157] *Rice is life.* Enjoy some links.... - *Don't Miss: *The DPP factions are Dead?. How the factions continue to affect the DPP - Don't Miss: Maddog with his first post in nearly 5 years (don't do that again!), on the language of media in discussing the 2-28 massacre - Don't Miss: Tumin at New Bloom on Transitional Justice, the Student Movement, 2-28 - Don't Miss: Good-bye independence from Chieh-ting Yeh. - Don't Miss: The Tiger that lost its roar: what's wrong with Taiwan's economy. It's quite conventional, I'll have more to say in the next ...more »

[image: TV, Television, Entertainment, Amusement, Remote Control] Though Neil Postman published Amusing Ourselves to Death in 1985, its observations, like the biblical prophets of old, have never been more relevant and ominous in this Age of Trump. The premise of Postman's book is this: electronic media is dumbing...more »

*Al Arabiya:* *20-nation military drill launched in Saudi Arabia* A military drill named “North Thunder” was launched in northern Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Countries participating in the drill included Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Senegal, Sudan, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Pakistan, Chad, Turkey, Tunisia, Comoros, Djibouti, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, Egypt and Mauritania, in addition to the Peninsula Shield Forces, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. According to SPA, the drill is the largest military drill in the world in terms of the number of partici...more »

*Fox Trot Alpha:* *This Map Visualizes China's Growing Military Capabilities In The South China Sea* This awesome interactive map shows China’s emerging area denial and anti-access military capabilities in the South China Sea. It is useful in visually tracking China’s progress towards creating an overlapping field of control over a vast majority of the area. The map, which you can access here, is built by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). One of China’s highly developed islands in the northern part of the South China Sea, Woody Island, has been equipped ...more »

A 500-page Security Council report released this weekend warns that the United States is about to become embroiled in a coup in which Freemasonic forces led by Donald Trump are going to launch a deadly attack on the Federal Reserve System and shadowy elite. Following the 2008 financial collapse which benefited “shadow government”, an American-British Freemason cabal rose to power, headed by Donald Trump, in order to restore order to the chaos. Whatdoesitmean.com reports: Having begun large land purchases in Scotland, this report continues, Donald Trump, in 2010, gathered around him ...more »

The EU plan on merging all of Europe’s militaries into one giant Euro Army, and have said they will dismantle the British Army if Britain votes to stay in the EU in the upcoming referendum in June. If Britons vote to stay a part of the European Union then the UK military will be forced to share sensitive weapons technology with the rest of Europe under a new agreement. Express.co.uk reports: Britain would also be expected to contribute around £375million to the scheme – enough to rehire all of the 20,000 soldiers the Government sacked in its last defence spending review. Last night ...more »

A Secret Service log taken from the morning of the 9/11 attacks details how Vice-President Dick Cheney had issued an order to not shoot down Flight 77 – allowing the Pentagon to be struck. The document confirms the testimony given by former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta to the 9/11 Commission Report, which was subsequently deleted from the published report. Abreureport.com reports: Mr. Mineta told the Commission that Vice-President Dick Cheney issued an order regarding Flight 77 not to be shot down, and that this allowed the Pentagon to be struck. The Secret Service log...more »

A company has created the first ever cannabis pill designed to relieve menstrual camp pain in women. Foria Relief have created a suppository that some are saying is more effective a pain relief than Ibuprofen, Midol, or Viodin. According to pill’s description: FORIA Relief has been carefully crafted using a delivery system intended to maximize the muscle relaxing and pain relieving properties of cannabis without inducing a psychotropic “high.” Cannabis has a long, cross-cultural history of use as a natural aid in easing symptoms associated with menstruation. Our intention is to share...more »

The Republicans gave their base a little smooch Friday by passing Bob Wittman's H.R, 2406, the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreation Enhancement (SHARE) Act. The first thing I noticed about the bill is that it passed 242-161 with all but 4 Republicans backing it and all the Democrats except 12, mostly Blue Dogs and New Dems, voting NO. Sometimes the easiest way to figure out the toxicity of a bill is to see who the co-sponsors were. In this case there were 37, primarily far right kooks like Tom Emmer, the Minnesota crackpot who took over Bachmann's seat when a scandal forced her to ...more »

This is a post that's been playing around in my head for some time now, mainly because I keep finding out new information and, as a side effect, the number of composers I initially wanted to look at has expanded. There's the old stereotype of your "classical" composer as a starched-collared wearing killjoy, conducting music in a grand hall full of other starch-collared wearing killjoys.....and God help you if you fidgeted in your seat or clapped between movements. I've always found this picture amusing particularly when you start to take a look at the private lives of some of th...more »

*Guest post by Affordable Auckland mayoral candidate Stephen Berry* Following John Palino’s official announcement that he intends to run again for the Auckland mayoralty, I would describePalino’s pledge to cut rates by 10% over three years as “refreshing.” The three media favourites have tried to get by on policy-free platitudes about waste cutting and fat trimming. Now a proper contest of ideas can begin. I myself recognise a two-pronged approach to controlling rates is necessary, and suggest that Palino’s plan will only be successful if he looks beyond the percentage charg...more »

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said that he will ignore a constitutional court ruling that says his detention of two journalists who were critical of the Turkish leader had violated their rights. In an act of defiance, Erdogan dismissed the ruling saying that he does not accept it, and announced that he had no intentions of obeying it. Dailystar.com.lb reports: Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet, and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul were released pending trial Friday after the constitutional court ruling. Their arrest last November, after Cumhuriyet published video footag...more »

ISIS militants in Syria have been caught using social media in order to buy, sell and barter a variety of CIA-made weapons and munitions. The American-made weapons include rocket launchers, machine guns, and grenade launchers. Hangthebankers.com reports: As The Foreign Desk News’ Lisa Daftari explains, Jihadists in Syria are using Facebook as a marketplace to buy, sell and barter a wide variety of American-made weapons and munitions ranging from rocket launchers to machine guns. An AGS-17 Soviet-era grenade launcher is listed for $3,800 and below that a thermal camera made by Orego...more »

New X-ray imaging has revealed that a ring of secret skulls originally encircled a depiction of the 16-century English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occult philosopher, imperialist, and adviser to Queen Elizabeth I John Dee – by artist Henry Gillard Glindoni. Glindoni had been forced to censor the image when he created it in the 19th-century, disguising the rich occult symbology in order to transform it into a more scientific depiction. Hyperallergic.com reports: The discovery was made in research for Scholar, Courtier, Magician: The Lost Library of John Dee, opened this w...more »

*Scott Shane and Jo Becker, New York Times*: *A New Libya, With ‘Very Little Time Left’* *The fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi seemed to vindicate Hillary Clinton. Then militias refused to disarm, neighbors fanned a civil war, and the Islamic State found refuge.* IT WAS A GRISLY START to the new era for Libya, broadcast around the world. The dictator was dragged from the sewer pipe where he was hiding, tossed around by frenzied rebel soldiers, beaten bloody and sodomized with a bayonet. A shaky cellphone video showed the pocked face of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, “the Leader” who had...more »

Photo credit: Hromadske *Katya Gorchinskaya, Foreign Policy:* *He Killed for the Maidan* *Here's why my news organization decided to shed some light on a dark moment in Ukraine's revolution.* My television station had a murderer on air last week — a self-confessed one. Ivan Bubenchik was calm and collected, his demeanor was open, and he spoke confidently of his actions on February 20, 2014, like he had known exactly what he was doing. After all, he was on the good side of the Euromaidan revolution, which was raging in Ukraine at the time, and which eventually swept a corrupt presi...more »

In a bid to promote a new Zika vaccine authorities are now claiming that the Zika virus may cause mental disorders and developmental disorders such as autism. Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, director of The Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University, told The New York Times, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a big upswing in A.D.H.D., autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia,” in an interview about the potential consequences of the virus. Truthkings.com reports: And he added, “We are looking at a large group of individuals who may not be able to function in this world.” This is an unima...more »

*VICE News*: *Dozens Reported Killed by Bombings at Restaurant and Busy Intersection in Somalia* The Somali militant group al Shabaab bombed a busy junction and a nearby restaurant in the town of Baidoa on Sunday, killing as many as 55 people. "The restaurant and the junction were very busy and the death toll may rise," Police Major Bilow Nurr told Reuters from Baidoa, which is located about 150 miles northwest of Mogadishu. Another police officer said a suicide car bomb blew up at the junction while a second blast, possibly a bomb that had been planted or a suicide bomber, struck...more »

*Al Jazeera: **ISIL bombings near Baghdad kill scores of Iraqis* Roadside bombs near Iraq's capital kill at least 70 while military comes under assault in Abu Ghraib and near Fallujah. Two bomb blasts have killed at least 70 people at a market just outside Baghdad and security forces have been targeted elsewhere in one of Iraq's bloodiest days in recent weeks. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed responsiblity for Sunday's attacks, the deadliest of which hit the predominantly Shia neighbourhood of Sadr City, just north of the Iraqi capital Baghad. The exp...more »

For the record... Mental health professionals need to be certified or licensed to practice in a given country according to that country’s professional regulations (Fraser, 2009b; Pope & Vasquez, 2011). Professionals must adhere to the ethical codes of their professional licensing or certifying organizations in all of their work with trans- sexual, transgender, and gender-nonconforming clients. *Treatment aimed at trying to change a person’s gender identity and lived gender expression to become more congruent with sex assigned at birth has been attempted in the past (Gelder & Mar...more »

This is probably a bad year for a candidate to be counting on establishment endorsers. But the DC Democratic establishment hasn't figured that out yet. The wretched pro-Wall Street Schumercrats the establishment is running against progressives are all bragging about endorsements they've gotten from pathetic figures who are despised by the Americans who have heard of them. A candidate telling someone they have the endorsement of someone like a Harry Reid or Chuck Schumer (or on the other side of the aisle, Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan) is a net loser and possibly, all things being ...more »

*We Are The Mighty:* *‘The last great tank battle’ was a slugfest of epic proportions* The men of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment spearheaded one of the American columns that invaded Iraq on Feb. 23, 1991. After three days of light fighting they stumbled into one of the largest Iraqi armored formations and annihilated it with cannons, TOW missiles and mortars in the Battle of 73 Easting, often called “the last great tank battle of the 20th century.” Then-Capt. (now Lt. Gen.) H.R. McMaster, commander of Eagle Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd ACR, literally wrote the book on the battle and...more »

*Washington Post*: *The corruption that fueled Ukraine’s 2014 revolution won’t go away* KIEV — From a wood-panel office overlooking Kiev’s Victory Avenue, Andriy Pyvovarsky, a former chief executive turned government reformer, earns $300 a month to manage a vast ministry more reminiscent of a “holding company.” The Ministry of Infrastructure’s bloated portfolio of almost 300 state-owned enterprises, including a railroad, seaports and roads, funnel cash to corrupt businessmen with connections to Ukraine’s parliament, he says. For months, they have blocked his attempts to privatize t...more »

[image: This photo provided by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism shows, a counter-protester, second from left, and a Ku Klux Klansman, center, scuffling as members of the KKK tried to start an anti-immigrant rally at Pearson Park in Anaheim on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. The event quickly escalated into violence and at least two people had to be treated at the scene for stab wounds.] ANAHEIM, California (AP) -- The home of Disneyland, the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth, is also the town where the Ku Klux Klan once ran the City Council, patrolled city streets and rall...more »

*Crimea (BBC)* *Eurasianet.org*: *Poroshenko Orders Ukrainian Military Focus On Crimea, Black Sea* Ukraine is planning a "substantial enhancement" of its military position around the Black Sea and on the border of Crimea as part of a strategy of regaining the territory that Russia annexed two years ago. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced the initiative on Friday, commemorating the second anniverary of the Russian annexation. "Crimea was, is and will be an integral part of the Ukrainian state and the country-criminal will be forced to return the loot," Poroshenko said. ...more »

Mental Health of Transgender Children Who Are Supported in Their Identities Olsen et al *Pediatrics* March 2016 *CONCLUSIONS:* Socially transitioned transgender children who are supported in their gender identity have developmentally normative levels of depression and only minimal elevations in anxiety, suggesting that psychopathology is not inevitable within this group. Especially striking is the comparison with reports of children with GID; socially transitioned transgender children have notably lower rates of internalizing psychopathology than previously reported among children ...more »

Reuters: China's women struggle for power One fifth of Chinese NPC parliamentarians are female, higher than the 17 percent of the U.S. Congress who are women. But China's parliament comes under the firm thumb of the Communist Party, where real power lies. * All nine members of the Party's top ruling body, the Politburo Standing Committee, who marked the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on Sunday, are men.* At Ketagalan media: Gwen Wang on Taiwan's legislature: *On gender balance, the percentage of women in the Legislature has increased to 38 per cent (43 seats), fro...more »

“Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of Aethopia. More specifically, a large star forming region called the Soul Nebula can be found in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, who Greek mythology credits as the vain wife of a King who long ago ruled lands surrounding the upper Nile river. *Click image for larger size.* The Soul Nebula houses several open clusters of stars, a large radio source known as W5, and huge evacuated bubbles formed by the winds of young massive stars. Located about 6,500 light years away, the Soul Nebula spans about 100 light years and is usual...more »

*“In A Dark Time...”* by Chet Raymo “I've quoted a few of these lines before, from a poem by Charles Simic: "It's like fishing in the dark. Our thoughts are the hooks, Our heart the raw bait. We cast the line past all believing Into the night sky Until it's lost to sight." In a sense, that's the story of my life: a long love affair with the night sky. My first book of popular science was “365 Starry Nights”. My first book of personal prose was “The Soul of the Night: An Astronomical Pilgrimage”. “An Intimate Look at the Night Sky” followed much later, but every book in between, fic...more »

*“Change and Renewal”* by Paulo Coelho “When winter arrives, the trees must sigh in sadness as they see their leaves falling. They say: ‘We will never be like we were before.’ Of course. Or still, what is the meaning of renewing oneself? The next leaves will have their own nature, they pertain to a new summer that approaches and which will never be like the one that passed. Living means changing– and the seasons repeat these lessons to us every year. Changing means going through a period of depression: we still don’t know the new and we have to forget everything we used to know. Bu...more »

*“The Joys of Living”* by Orison Swett Marden “Resolve every morning that you will get the most out of that day, not of some day in the future, when you are better off, when you have a family, when your children are grown up, when you have overcome your difficulties. You never will overcome them all. You will never be able to eliminate all the things which annoy, trouble, and cause friction in your life. You will never get rid of all the little enemies of your happiness, the hundred and one little annoyances, but you can make the most of things as they are. The reason why our liv...more »

[image: Abortion Law, Judge's Gavel, Pro-Life] A Florida appellate court lifted an injunction Friday against a contentious law that states women must wait 24 hours before getting an abortion. Florida passed a law last year that requires women seeking an abortion see a doctor and then wait...more »

[image: The Rev. William B. Schooler is pictured in January 2011 photo in Dayton, Ohio. Schooler, 70, was fatallly shot Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, while in his office at St. Peter's Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton, Dayton police said. His brother, Daniel Gregory Schooler, 68, was arrested at the scene and taken to the Montgomery County jail. He faces a murder charge on Monday, said Sgt. Richard Blommel. ohdayap] DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- An Ohio pastor with deep roots in the Dayton community was shot and killed in his church office as service was winding down Sunday, and police say they p...more »

A 12-year-old girl faces criminal charges for posting a message with emojis of a🔫, 🔪, 💣 and a 👮. The schoolgirl from Fairfax Virginia is accused of “threatening her school.” Business Insider UK reports: The 12-year-old from Fairfax, Va., has been charged with threatening her school after police said she posted a message on Instagram in December laden with gun, bomb and knife emojis. It read in part: Killing 🔫 “meet me in the library Tuesday” 🔫🔪💣 As emoji and their relative the emoticon have rocketed from web slang to the unofficial language of the Internet age, the case is on...more »

*by Kathryn Drake* with a little help from W. S. Gilbert I am the very model of a modern climatologist I’m partly statistician, partly paleo-phrenologist I’ve temperature readings from thermometers coniferous My data are the same (or not, well, maybe) as Keith Briffa has I bought them from a bloke who brought them hotfoot from Siberia And mixed them with some algae from the mud in Lake Superior. When counting different isotopes I’m really in my element And sucking up to journalists from Guardian Environment I know what makes the tree rings from Siberia to the Rockies tick And ...more »

*From* *Jenna Orkin* The Global Run On Physical Cash Has Begun: Why It Pays To Panic First Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupts in violence; three stabbed, 13 arrested This 19-year-old started a massive protest movement in Hong Kong — and now the government is putting him on trial STRATFOR founder George Friedman gave us some jarring predictions for the future A 12-year-old girl is facing criminal charges for using emoji, and she’s not the only one Reindeer are still very radioactive 30 years after Chernobyl Pot is power hungry Why the marijuana industry's energy footprint is growing ...more »

There's a great deal I've had to leave out over the past week. (In fact, I'm still leaving some out. Too much is going on in the world.) But here's a start. First - I've been taking a look at the site UNZ. It has a wealth of material. And what I've read of it is pretty good. There's far too much in it for me to cover in a single blog - and maybe not even in a year of blogs. Now, we'll start with some pictures from The Guardian. I was particularly struck by the photo of two refugee children, alone and living on the street. They're among the thousands who live like that so that ...more »

[image: People cast their ballot at an election office in Appenzell, Switzerland, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016. Swiss voters headed to the polls Sunday to decide on a controversial initiative sought by a right-wing, nationalist party that could lead to automatic expulsions of foreigners who commit even low-level crimes.] GENEVA (AP) -- Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to automatically expel foreigners who commit even low-level crimes, according to results, handing a setback to a popular nationalist party that had put forward the measure. The initiative was rejected Sunday...more »

Protests erupted after Utah police shot a 16-year-old boy in the chest and stomach because he was brandishing a broomstick. Abdi Mohamed was hospitalized in downtown Salt Lake City on Saturday night and is said to be in a critical condition. About 100 riot police tried to the disperse angry crowds who started throwing glass and rocks following the incident. According to witness accounts, excessive force had been used by the police and the teenager had not given time to comply with their orders The officer who shot the boy had been responding to an unrelated call on Saturday when two...more »

It's true to say Western/cowboy-themed video games have always been thin on the ground. Off the top of my head I can name *High Noon* for the Spectrum, Konami's *Sunset Riders* from the 16-bit era, and more recently there was Rockstar's *Red Dead Redemption*. And there is this from Capcom: *Gun. Smoke*. Thus styled with the dot for copyright reasons (it was *definitely not* not a video game revival of the old US TV show), *Gunsmoke* hit the arcades at roughly the same time as the fondly remembered *Commando*, and the premise is basically the same. Guide your guy up the screen and ...more »

R. v Kalleo, 2016 CanLII 7716: [25] In circumstances like these there is a right for an in-custody accused to have immediate access to the *Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms*. The notion that a person bears the constraint of Rule 14 of the *Rules of the Provincial Court of Newfoundland and Labrador*requiring an in-custody accused to give significant notice to the Crown of a constitutional argument is questionable. Such a rule must, necessarily, be unconstitutional, under such circumstances. Otherwise, the *Charter *and access to justice remain illusions. If the Defence raises...more »

Guest post by *Bill Bonner, Editor, **The Bill Bonner Letter* *Editor's Note*: All along, we’ve known the Federal Reserve's actions to "goose" the economy would cause a financial disaster. Although these actions created a “fake” recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, they’ve set us up for an even worse collapse today, says *Bill Bonner *in this guest post. Right now, it's all starting to fall apart - and this bust is just getting started... [Bill originally wrote this essay on January 18, 2016, in *Bill Bonner’s Diary.]* ------------------------------ *The Fed's Phony Boom Is...more »

*“The Waking”* “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I feel my fate in what I cannot fear. I learn by going where I have to go. We think by feeling. What is there to know? I hear my being dance from ear to ear. I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. Of those so close beside me, which are you? God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there, And learn by going where I have to go. Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how? The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair; I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. Great Nature has another thing to do To you and me, so take the lively...more »

*With all the focus on Syria, here's an interesting bit of news readers may have missed:* *The relevant provisions require that the president make preventing such boycotts a “principal trade negotiating objective” *of the United States in dealings with other countries. Under the Constitution, the president has the authority to “make” treaties, and Congress cannot dictate their terms or micromanage their negotiation. Congress can of course tell the president what to keep in mind, which is exactly what the law does. And the signing statement merely makes clear it will be interpreted i...more »

Operation Barbarossa 2 – As the U.S. makes preparations to face a Russian threat in eastern Europe and Syria, Russia feels that the past is about to repeat itself and sees an invasion plan in place that looks very much like Nazi Germany’s build up of forces prior to Operation Barbarossa. Except this time, Russia is different from the former Soviet Union and the Nazis and their allies are the Americans and their friends in Ukraine and the Islamic State. Global Research reports: On February 1 the New York Times ran a front page story by two of their journalists confirming the intenti...more »

A bill that that would allow children of all ages to handle guns passed Iowa’s house of representative last week. The bill which was approved on Tuesday by a 62-36 vote, would allow children 14 or younger to possess “a pistol, revolver or the ammunition” under parental supervision and is now headed for the state Senate. Press TV reports: The bill sparked an intense debate in the state about the proper balance between gun rights and basic child safety both with Republican and Democratic members. “What this bill does, the bill before us, allows for 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds...more »

This morning I posted on what looked like heavy emissions at Fukushima Daiichi. The apparent emissions don't look very much better during the day time, as you can see from these cropped images pasted below from 3 screenshots taken within a 90 second period starting at 7:00 AM 2/29/2016: What is the mauve haze?

[image: In this Feb. 18, 2016, file photo, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) speaks during a news conference, in Union City, N.J. A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments in the corruption case of Menendez on Monday, Feb. 29.] NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- When three federal appellate judges settle into their seats Monday to hear arguments in the corruption case against New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, they will be asked to delve deeply into an idea that, though little...more »

“Ah yes, truth. Funny how everyone is always asking for it but when they get it they don’t believe it because it’s not the truth they want to hear.” - Helena Cassadine “Beware of being too rational. In the country of the insane, the integrated man doesn’t become king. He gets lynched.” - Aldous Huxley, "Island"

When I woke up and switched on the TV this morning, the first thing I heard was the bratty voice of an newly empowered Marco Rubio cracking school yard jokes. "Donald Trump likes to sue people; he should sue whoever did that to his face." And there was something about a spray tan. But don't get distracted by the canned jokes about Herr-Force One that Rubio's comedy writer is giving him. Truth: Trumpf is an authoritarian and a fascist. He may seem like a harmless bag of wind and a buffoon but his ability to tap into a vein of Hate Talk Radio's ginned up tight-wing victimhood is a r...more »

*“Do Americans Live In A False Reality Created By Orchestrated Events?”* by Paul Craig Roberts "Most people who are aware and capable of thought have given up on what is called the “mainstream media.” The presstitutes have destroyed their credibility by helping Washington to lie—“Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction,” “Iranian nukes,” “Assad’s use of chemical weapons,” “Russian invasion of Ukraine,” and so forth. The “mainstream media” has also destroyed its credibility by its complete acceptance of whatever government authorities say about alleged “terrorist events,” such a...more »

[image: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers his annual 'State of Hungary' speech in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, February 28, 2016. Orban says he has ordered the interior and defense ministers to begin preparing the construction of defenses on the border with Romania to prevent migrants from entering. He also said that the European Union bureaucrats and Germany’s welcoming culture are to blame for the migrant crisis on the continent. The inscription reads: "Hungarian Reforms Are Working".] BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -- Europe has the ability to stop the flow of migrants reaching...more »

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About Me

I've been 'around' for a few years now, pursuing the shifting goal of a sharable home-made surfers resource site focused on ease of use and variety of mostly adult ( whoa : I didn't say prurient ) content.